Fukushima & Nuclear News Roundup; Friday May 31st

TEPCO asks for more money, fishermen still can’t fish in today’s news roundup. (graphic by 281_antinuke)

TEPCO asks for another $5.9 billion dollars in government cash. They claim it is needed for the ongoing compensation payments to people and businesses evacuated from the region. Full compensation payouts have yet to begin and the various lawsuits against TEPCO are in the early stages indicating the financial issues may get worse.

Fukushima Fishermen find themselves still unable to return to work. Some catch fish in the area for radiation monitoring but they wonder how long this can go on. Most worry that TEPCO’s plan to dump more contaminated water into the sea will be a further hit to their ability to return to work.

Evacuees from Namie have filed a suit asking for more temporary compensation. Most have been receiving about $1000 USD per month but say it isn’t enough to cover the additional expenses incurred by having to live in upheaval. Many families live in two locations due to jobs or a need to keep children in a safer environment adding to their monthly costs.

Plutonium levels at Fukushima Daiichi have increased slightly over the last year. A comparison of locations in 2012 and 2013 showed a small increase. (H/T Fuku Diary)

70% of the children under 4 years of age in Fukushima did not receive any sort of whole body radiation screening. Officials stated this was due to the inability to scan someone so small. Some scanning centers resorted to tweaking scanners and having children stand on chairs. Others had a parent and child scan together then rescan the parent to obtain the difference value to assign to the child.

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